Tag Archives: Fruits

If you need another reason to grab an apple today, a new study may get you inspired. The study suggests that eating just a few fruits and vegetables a day reduces the risk of dying from cancer and an earlier death. And the more produce people ate, the lower their risk of dying during the course of the study.

From AICR’s report along with other research, there is already an established link between consuming high amounts of fruits and vegetables are reduced risk of certain cancers. This study both strengthens and adds to the research by focusing on mortality, from cancer, along with heart disease and any cause.

The study included approximately 65,000 participants, ages 35 or older, who represent the population of England. They had answered questions annually about how many and what types of fruit and vegetables they had eaten, as well as other health habits.

After an average of 8 years, the people who were eating seven or more fruits and vegetables each day had a 33 percent reduced risk of dying from any cause compared to their non-produce eating counterparts. Even consuming one to three fruits and vegetables a day reduced risk of death by about 10 percent, compared to those who ate none. The link was even stronger when excluding those who died during the first year of the study, which may have been due to illness. Continue reading →

The research is pretty clear that staying a healthy weight lowers postmenopausal women’s risk of breast cancer. Now a new study suggests that regularly eating a diet high in the foods that help you stay at that healthy weight – fruits, vegetables and other plant foods – may by itself lower risk of breast cancer.

The link to lower risk was most pronounced for tumors that are not fueled by hormones. These breast cancers are less common, but more challenging to treat.

Going into the study, researchers looked to get away from individual foods and nutrients and focus on dietary pattern, which looks at the overall types of foods we regularly eat. Almost 100,000 women answered questionnaires about what they ate, along with genetic and other risk factors. Five dietary patterns emerged:

A refrigerator make-over would be a great way to welcome spring and all the fresh, seasonal produce appearing in grocery stores and farmers markets. Leave winter behind and head to the nearest supermarket produce section.

AICR is ready to help you get started on your refrigerator redo with our Steps to a Healthy Fridge. Try it out and let us know how you’re making changes. Send us your photos – before, after or ‘as is’ and we’ll post some here.

You can also tell us the most mysterious food item you’ve found in your fridge.